Tuesday, August 25, 2015

As we mentioned in our previous blog post, the Pebble Club is up and running and accepting new members. We are using this campaign as an opportunity to introduce some of the great people who make up the Pebble Club. Meet Lindsay, Ally, and Zauyah:Lindsay Carpenter

Connection to LeaderShape:

In 1999, I was Director of Training for Nordstrom on the West Coast. My counterpart for the Midwest Region had attended the Institute as an undergrad at KU, then years later volunteered to be a Cluster Facilitator at a national session. He returned from that experience and called to tell me he'd signed me up to be a Cluster Facilitator! I protested - no time - but ended up doing it anyway and the rest is history - I was hooked!

Why I support LeaderShape through the Pebble Club:

The question should be why not support Pebble Club? Why miss the opportunity to show support for an organization I work for and totally believe in and represent when I facilitate? For a very nominal fee you also get a T-shirt - how cool is that!!!

One piece of advice I would share with someone participating in a LeaderShape program is:

When participating in a LeaderShape experience, approach with an open mind and just let it happen. No two experiences will ever be the same. Facilitating the Institute reaffirms my value system and solidifies my passions. Plus the conversations that ensue during that week are far more profound than those I normally have with life-long friends. It is a special time, savor every minute.

I live the lessons and mission of LeaderShape in my own life by/through:

I look at my prioritized values all the time and strive to live life according to those values. In retirement, I am giving back to my community on a daily basis through volunteer work. By being the best authentic me, I make my immediate surroundings a more just, thriving, caring space.

​LeaderShape instilled in me a belief that one person can make a difference, in any cause and in any circumstance. It also taught me that being idle in the pursuit of justice is not an option; it will take all of us to create a just, caring, and thriving world.

One piece of advice I would share with someone participating in a LeaderShape program is:Trust the process! Give yourself fully to it and allow yourself to experience each activity as if it were the first time.​

I live the lessons and mission of LeaderShape in my own life by/through:

​Thinking deeply and critically about my decisions, particularly how they match up with my values of integrity, authenticity, and relationship.

Zauyah Waite

Connection to LeaderShape:

I was recommended and applied to be a Cluster Facilitator for the Institute. I participated in the June 2000 Institute held at Allerton Park in Illinois.

Why I support LeaderShape through the Pebble Club:

After I participated in the Institute in 2000, I was sold for life. I have sponsored students from the universities I served since then and supporting LeaderShape through the Pebble Club is just one more natural progressive move.

One piece of advice I would share with someone participating in a LeaderShape program is:

Keep an open mind take in everything to gain lessons that will last a life time.

I live the lessons and mission of LeaderShape in my own life by/through:

Although it has been 15 years since I was a facilitator at a session of the Institute, the experience affirmed for me that the best way to live and lead is with integrity. I have also strived to connect and serve alongside others who want to improve and reach their highest potential while contributing positively to their communities.

If you are ready to join the Pebble Club, you can do so by visiting the Donate page on our website. Don't forget to click the "Pebble Club" box.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Not too long ago we started the Pebble Club, a giving campaign for LeaderShape. 3 years and almost 300 members later, the Pebble Club is going strong. And now it's time to kick off this year's campaign! The Pebble Club is filled with wonderful LeaderShape community members and advocates - and we want to introduce you to some of them! We hope you enjoy learning about our donors and why they are a part of the Pebble Club. Maybe you'll even be inspired to think about your own responses to the questions we posed to them. And now, the first post in our series. Meet Anne and Zak.

I’m privileged to be able to give my time and talent to groups that I care about. The Pebble Club is one small way to support LeaderShape. And on a deeply personal note related to the pebble used on Day 6 at the Institute, I actually played a part in adding that into the curriculum way back in the mid-90’s. While I was on staff at LeaderShape, I attended a workshop that closed out their activities using the metaphor of the ripple effect and each participant was given a pebble as a reminder. I thought it was a great metaphor and way to remember and would be a perfect thing to enhance how we close out a session of The LeaderShape Institute. It’s been a part of the curriculum ever since – so I feel a special personal connection to the Pebble Club!

One piece of advice I would share with someone participating in a LeaderShape program is:

Come prepared for introspection, connection, relationship building, and some fun!

I live the lessons and mission of LeaderShape in my own life by/through:

It’s helped me stay in the practice of being committed to being a person of integrity. I try to work hard every day to be someone who can be trusted and respected by the people I am in relationship with. And when I mess up, I try to admit, apologize, and attend as quickly as possible.

LeaderShape is a constant inspiration for why I'm in medical school. If the program can drive me to believe in myself and my vision, I know it can inspire students (and everyone else!) to achieve amazing things. And I want to help that happen in any way I can.

One piece of advice I would share with someone participating in a LeaderShape program is:

Live the program every day. Everyone gets swept up in the beauty of LeaderShape while they're participating because it's so enlightening and uniting. But it takes real strength, courage, and conviction to continue living your vision each and every Day 7.

I live the lessons and mission of LeaderShape in my own life by/through:

Being a patient advocate. As a medical student I'm in a position where I can spend more time with patients--I can sit with them, talk with them, and listen to them and it doesn't even necessarily have to be about their conditions. I try to build my own little just, caring, thriving world inside those rooms by letting patients express themselves even while they may be suffering.

If you are ready to join the Pebble Club, you can do so by visiting the Donate page on our website. Don't forget to click the "Pebble Club" box.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

There are LeaderShapers all around the world doing good work. We are constantly inspired by the LeaderShape stories we have the privilege of hearing. Over the years, the Palmer Award has been a way to learn about the stories of our graduates and recognize their efforts.

The Palmer Award is provided each year to LeaderShape graduates who have participated in a national and campus-based session during the previous year. The award is given to recognize the achievements of those individuals who have demonstrated their commitment to bringing their vision to reality after attending a session of LeaderShape’s Institute program.

The Palmer Award began as an endowment gift donated to the Alpha Tau Omega Foundation by Dr. Edmund T. Palmer, Jr. This year the fund will provide $1000 for awards to graduates of the Institute who have implemented their vision.

Individuals eligible to apply for this award must have attended and completed a session of the Institute in 2014. You can find the award application by heading over to this Google doc.

Applications are due by 8am CST on Monday, September 14, 2015 and should be submitted to Kristen Hyman at kbh@leadershape.org.

Friday, August 7, 2015

What if we used this concept
of #Day7 and Staying in Action as an opportunity to lead by living?

Take away position and title. Take away work and school and to-do lists. When we live our life by our values, according to our causes, while activating our
talents, we are leading. You are leading. You are contributing. You are LeaderShape.

Let’s break it down.

Values

By knowing, owning, and
living by our core values we are communicating to others what we stand for.
Living by our values provides us with a touchstone that helps us to stay the
course, even when we are challenged, tired, or tempted.

We are grounded.

Causes

Some call it passion. Some
call it their calling. Whatever language you use, the bottom-line is to connect
with a cause that drives and inspires. Contribute to the cause, to that very special
idea or vision, through how you live your life each and every day.

We are activated.

Talents
When we use our strengths, talents, and gifts we are able to contribute in a
manner that is personally exciting and that increases our chances of success.
How is that so? Because you are putting into action what you are best at.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

I find it increasing harder to take the high road because so few people even know that a high road exists.

Seriously. I struggle thinking about taking the high road, doing the right thing, rising above the fray, when it seems that so few people even care that you are doing so. What’s the lesson in doing the right thing when no one cares about the lesson? Yeah, I can hear you now saying how pessimistic that view is and how can I do that when I work at LeaderShape! We do have our moments from time to time even when we work in such a positive environment.

I’m not sure if you struggle with the same thing or not, but I’m thinking a lot about it lately. Probably why I have been drawn to books on character, integrity, and beliefs. I’ve been reading the latest book by New York Times columnist David Brooks titled The Road to Character as the title really jumped out at me. Mostly because the title suggests that getting to character takes some travel. Perhaps even a journey. That journey is what intrigues me. Maybe we have to wonder a bit and struggle with these issues continuously as it molds us much like a river molds the river bank and shapes the rocks.

I’ve mentioned before the importance of staying in hard conversations and “the mess” as a way to address the issues we face as a society and as leaders. That hard conversation can also occur within our own heads as we wrestle with decisions such as whether to take the high road or not. Brooks mentions the difference between “resume” virtues and “eulogy” virtues. Love the way he presents that. The virtues that we adopt to impress other people and the virtues we adopt that will be remembered by. Those are definitely decisions we make in our mind that craft our character and the virtues that we believe in and adopt.

I think you will enjoy reading this book as you think deeply about those virtues you hold dear, whether you decide to take the high road or not, and how your journey is progressing on the road to character.

Good luck in that conversation. It may actually lead you to that high road where you may run into someone else trying to do the same. Then maybe it will seem more real. More crowded. More well worn.